The Ottawa Senators are not planning to throw the baby out with the bathwater as they prepare for Game 2 in Raleigh.
“We lost 2-0, but it was a good game. Both teams were playing well, both teams were playing well defensively and trying to generate offensively, and I don’t think we need to change a lot here,” said Claude Giroux after morning skate on Monday.
“Obviously every game in the series you’re going to have to do a few adjustments. At the end of the day, we know what works for our team. We know how we want to play, our identity. It’s one game, and we’ve got a great opportunity tonight to steal one on the road.”
The Senators outshot the Hurricanes 37-19, 27-19, and 31-28 during the regular season, though they lost two of the three meetings. Saturday’s Game 1 loss was the first time they had been outshot by Carolina this season, 29-22.
“Anytime you come into this rink or they come into ours since I’ve come into the league, you know what kind of game it’s going to be,” said Drake Batherson.
“Obviously they’re on top of you, all over the ice, there’s not much time and space. It’s always a challenging game. Your mind’s already there, you’re not expecting it to be wide open and getting lots of chances. You know it’s going to be a ‘muckfest’ out there.”
Batherson also echoed many of Tim Stützle’s thoughts about how the team can generate more offence in Game 2.
“You’ve got to support the puck all over the ice, be connected, whether you’re forechecking or you have the puck, you’ve got to support other guys out there,” said Batherson. “Trying to hold onto pucks, taking guys on your back and winning 1-on-1 battles. Just getting some volume to the net, that’s what we’re going to try and do better tonight.”
